With the Big Green Teams

DARTMOUTH'S rowing tradition isn't nearly so steeped as at Harvard, Yale or Princeton, but thanks to a couple of Old Tigers the Big Green has moved clearly into the upper echelons of intercollegiate rowing.

Those two Old Tigers are Thad Seymour and Pete Gardner. Dean Seymour, as volunteer coach in the mid-50's, was instrumental in rejuvenating the Dartmouth Rowing Club. It was in 1958, when he became convinced that Dartmouth needed a full-time crew coach, that Seymour turned the reins over to Gardner, his gaunt-looking former Princeton teammate who helped the Tigers gain the finals of the 1948 Olympic trials.

With Gardner at the helm, Seymour has continued to be a strong spiritual force in Dartmouth rowing and the Big Green couldn't have picked a better year to produce its finest hour than on the eve of Seymour's departure for the president's chair at Wabash College.

Over the years, the Indians have been struggling through the middle of the pack of so-so college crews. They've shown moments of brilliance but for the most part they've been just another crew.

That ho-hum image underwent a spectacular reversal this spring, culminating June 15 at Onondaga Lake in Syracuse where Dartmouth lived up to its darkhorse rating by challenging highly regarded Pennsylvania right to the finish of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association's championship final. The Indians finished second by slightly less than one length and demonstrated their superiority over 12 of the nation's best heavyweight eights.

The challenge to mighty Penn was an appropriate conclusion to this season for Gardner's much-improved oarsmen. The Green has made steady progress through the season, beginning with a win over the University of Alabama in March on Lake Martin and continuing through triumphs over Rutgers and Boston University (Bill Cup) and in the Packard Cup race against Syracuse and M.I.T.

The only setback for the Indians was in the Cochrane Cup race on the Connecticut River in early May when Wisconsin edged Dartmouth by a decklength over the 2000-meter course. One of the satisfying moments of the season came in the IRA final when Dartmouth avenged that loss to Wisconsin as the Badgers finished nearly two lengths behind the Green in the final.

Even though they failed to make the championship race at the Eastern Sprint Regatta at Worcester in mid-May, losing to Penn and Cornell in the trial heat, the Green bounced back to win the reserve championship over Yale, Navy, Rutgers, Brown, and Columbia. Cornell also felt the wrath of Dartmouth's sophomore-dominated shell at Syracuse as the Big Red finished behind Wisconsin in fifth place.

"The lake was rough and a quartering headwind didn't help anyone," said Gardner of the IRA final. "We felt we could be most efficient with a low stroke (33-34 per minute) and held that pace through-out the race. Dartmouth rowed even lower as it defeated Northeastern, Stanford, Georgetown and UCLA handily in the opening trial heat.

"The high-stroking crews had trouble coping with the water and also felt the effects of the heat and humidity," Dartmouth's coach continued. "We rowed the race exactly as we had planned. Perhaps what's most gratifying is that the crew wasn't happy with second place, even though it was our best performance in history. They went onto the water thinking they could beat Penn and were disappointed when they didn't. That's the kind of attitude that makes a coach happy."

Two weeks before the IRAs, Gardner brought two sophomores into the boat- Dennis Bell and John French. The move cost the Indians some overall weight and height but the pair teamed perfectly with three other sophomores - Terry Adams as stroke, Bill Pickard in the bow, and Deneys Purcell at No. 6 - to provide precision and strength with Captain Tom Gilmore, Steve Tourek (captain-elect) and Jim Willis.

The junior varsity and freshman seasons were not particularly successful but Gardner points to the experience gained by these oarsmen plus the momentum produced by the varsity's success as ideal ingredients for a promising 1970 season.

Tourek, the No. 4 oar at the IRA after holding the No. 2 seat for most of two seasons, is the new captain and also won the Thaddeus Seymour Award for out-standing contribution to the heavyweight crew. He is from St. Paul, Minn.

Sandy Ferguson, a junior from Pittsburgh, Pa., will captain the lightweight varsity in 1970. His brother, Bruce, a sophomore, is also a lightweight oarsman.

In a coaching change, Pete Holland '60, Dartmouth's freshman crew coach for the past four years, has been named varsity coach at M.I.T. His successor at Dartmouth will be John Danford, a June graduate who rowed for Dartmouth as a sophomore and junior but missed this season with a back injury.